Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Beginning of a New Inquisiition in Nicaragua

As part of the presidential electoral campaign, the Frente Sandinista under the leadership of ex-revolutionary Daniel Ortega and his Somocist vice-presidential candidate along with other right wing parties (PLC,ALN) have formed an alliance with the Vatican and its catholic heirarchy and some evangelical churches and rushed through a law on Thursday October 2006 to outlaw any form of abortion.

This violates established legal process and the legal process and the secular constitution of the republic as well as basic human rights. It will roll back rigths established in a law allowing for therapeutic abortion that has existed since 1891.

The only party openly in favour of guaranteeing women's rights and the therapeutic abortion law was the MRS (Movement for Sandinista Renewal) which has signed an alliance with the Autonomous Womens Movement.

The exisiting law restricted the right to an abortion only to pregnant women whose lives were in danger. The new law means a death sentence for poor women with pregnancies that threaten their lives and torture for raped women, or any woman who can't or does n't want to go ahead with a pregnancy that endangers her health or because of major problems with the fetus.

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